Bhargava's plan for Maruti 2.0: 3 mn annual sales; eco-friendly cars

After 30 years of selling cars and revolutionising personal transportation in India, Maruti Suzuki is embarking on its next phase of journey with an eye on selling three million vehicles annually.

Spelling out the road map for the next 30 years – Maruti2.0 – Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman RC Bhargava said thecompany would be at the forefront of the efforts to make India a significant player in the global market place.With an eye on annual sales of two million units in thenext five years, MSI is enhancing its research and developmentcapability to increase fuel efficiency of all models, developeco-friendly vehicles and provide more fuel options of diesel, CNG and LPG in existing models.

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It is also developing 800cc compact diesel engines forIndian roads apart from giving special focus on electricvehicles and hybrids.

In his address to shareholders in the annual report FY14,Bhargava said: “2013-14 was a significant milestone year forus, as in December we completed 30 years of selling cars. Itis a good time to review what we have achieved and what weshould do in our next 30 years – Maruti 2.0.”

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He said the move by MSI to let parent Suzuki Motor Corp(SMC) invest and own the Gujarat plant was keeping in mind thecompany’s future requirements.

“The much higher availability of funds with Maruti wouldenable your company to strengthen its R&D and develop, andmaintain the much larger number of models required to achievesales of 3 million cars,” he said.

In addition, the company would also be able to invest instrengthening and de-risking its infrastructure for sales,service and spare parts, required to cater to a sale of threemillion cars a year, Bhargava said without elaborating by whenthe company expects to touch the annual sales milestone.

In 2013-14, MSI had sold a total of 11,55,041 vehicles.

In January, the company stopped production of the iconicMaruti 800, the car that revolutionised India’s automobileindustry. The car, produced at the Gurgaon plant, had sold atotal of 2.7 million units since its launch in 1983.Underlining the importance of strengthening R&D,Bhargava said: “If we are thinking of doubling or tripling ourvolumes, the number of products has to correspondingly go up.These products will have to be refreshed periodically also.“The bar of technology, performance and features has toalso go up considering the competition in the future. We have to build in-house R&D capability and capacity in linewith this need.”

The company is investing Rs 2,000 crore at its R&D centreand test course at Rohtak, Haryana, which is SMC’s firstglobal R&D centre outside Japan.

Commenting on the mid-term target, MSI Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said the company would widen its product offerings and enter new segments.

With the auto industry seeing signs of revival, Bhargava expressed confidence that the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi would help spur growth in the manufacturing sector.

“The Prime Minister has promised the people that Indian manufacturing will revive and will create jobs for the millions of our young men and women. I believe this government has the will, and the skill, to make this happen and
manufacturing in India will become increasingly competitive,” he said.

Gradually all the impediments to attaining globally competitive operating conditions will go, he added. “As a company that is already globally competitive, Maruti Suzuki would be at the forefront of this effort to make India a significant player in the global market place,” Bhargava said.

PTI